Review 2879: Chanbres Lyon, Vieux Lyon - Fourviere

When

June 2007, 5 nights

Location

There are so many apartments available for rent in Paris and finally after many visits to Lyon, I found this apartment through the Chambres Lyon website, which also lists some other apartments. This flat is on the edge of the old town with a great view over the city from the windows.

Nearby Amenities

Five minutes walk to bakery and shops in the old town and less than ten minutes to the daily market on the quai St Antoine. Ten minutes walk to Place Bellecour and the restaurants and sites around there. Five minutes down to the Vieux Lyon metro or the Fourviere funicular.

The House/Apartment

The apartment is in an old - eighteenth century I would say - building. It is on the second floor of a five or six floor building with two apartments on each floor. The building has the very common old world lobby and stairway - very unmanicured let's say. But the apartment itself is wonderful - beautifully renovated. The building is very quiet although there is some road noise in the living room from the road - it didn't bother us. I would say it was originally two big rooms, now remodelled (see below) to provide modern accommodations. There is a secure lobby as well as the lock on the door to the apartment - very secure (not that I think there is any particular safety problem).

Garden

There is a quirky terrace built into the hillside behind the building - you access it through a little step ladder over the window ledge. It has a table and chairs. It's at the bottom of a steep hill up behind the building.

Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

Absolutely excellent spacious accommodation. Comfortable, immaculate, very clean. The living room is large with three big French windows overlooking Lyon. The apartment building is part way up the Fourviere hill so there's a great view. Wonderful wood floors throughout.

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

The main bedroom is at the back with big windows on the said quirky terrace. New built in closet across one wall. Futon style bed mattress. Very quiet. We slept very well.

The second bedroom is in a remodelled section between the original two main rooms and is a loft with TV above the bathroom. The children slept there and loved it.

The bathroom is below the second bedroom - large, stylish, ample towels, very good water pressure and hot water in the shower as well as big bath. Very efficient washer and dryer in here too.

Kitchen

Amazingly well equipped kitchen that is part of the remodelled middle section, including dishwasher. You could make a gourmet dinner for eight with no problem in this kitchen.

Problems or Bonuses

We enjoyed this apartment very much.

A couple of surprises - it's about five minutes walk up quite a steep hill. We were very glad we arrived in a taxi and didn't have to drag our bags up from the metro stop. We'd recommend taking a taxi there although we left on public transport with no problem as wheeling the bags down was easy.
We arrived to find we couldn't get in - secure lobby and we didn't know the code for the landlord who lives in the same building! We had his phone number but no working cellphone. I ran up the road to the Youth Hostel to borrow a phone there and he came down immediately. If you don't have a phone with you, make sure you have a plan.

The owner wanted a big security deposit - we were a little concerned as we've rented many places in England, France and Italy as well as the US and never had to give such a security deposit. But we ended up just giving him a check on our US account and he returned the check to us on the day we left with no problem. Now we've stayed there I wouldn't have any anxiety about this - I presume it's just to make sure someone doesn't walk off with the TV etc.

Agency and Representatives (and price)

I found this apartment on the Chambres Lyon website but they directed me straight to the owner (who also has his own site Rent-a-Flat) and we handled everything with him. He lives in the same building and is very hospitable and friendly. He writes and speaks very competent English.

Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

A great place to stay in Lyon. For all the reasons that it's nice to rent an apartment in Paris rather than stay in a hotel, it's nice to have an apartment here too. Enjoy.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.